Human and animal gastrointestinal tract is at risk to develop various disorders, including these caused by aging, viruses, bacteria and/or their toxins or by physical and chemical abuses, among others.
There are several factors or therapies, which are capable of alleviating the symptoms of the various gastrointestinal disorders. Among others the indigenous flora, known as microbiota, plays an important role in modulating the intestinal environment. The non-pathogenic micro-organisms residing in the gut, known as probiotics, together with the prebiotic molecules, released from the micro-organisms or taken with the diet as food ingredients, present potential means to prevent or treat gastrointestinal disorders, including C. difficile infection.
It has been demonstrated that human intestinal bacteria modulate C. difficile toxin A production in the intestine and that toxin A binds more on intestinal membranes isolated from axenic than conventional mice, indicating that indigenous micro-organisms play an important role in C. difficile's pathogenesis. Clinical studies, testing nutritional approaches for treatment of C. difficile-induced colitis and diarrhoea, indicate that Lactobacillus GG improves the symptoms of colitis in hospitalised adults or infants. In a similar way the non-pathogenic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii has been shown to have positive effects in the prevention or treatment of C. difficile-induced colitis and diarrhoea in adults or infants. In addition RU 2168915 discloses the use of a meat product comprising predetermined ratios of beef, pork, blanched beef liver, squash or pumpkin, and butter as a curing or preventing food product against gastrointestinal disorders in children and weak people. All the above observations indicate that the field of nutritional intervention against C. difficile infection is still open.